MMX: Of Creatures and Reploids
by Alisa180
Summary: In the year 21XX, a discovery is about to be made that will change the course of history. And two Pokemon trainers are about to take part in a event that will change their destiny. The discovery of X and MMX novelization with a Pokemon twist!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! It's me, Alisa, again! And welcome to my newest story! This is another result of my semi-crazy crossover ideas. To sum up this story it's a novelization of MMX starting with the discovery of X that takes place in the Pokémon world. There are a lot of twists that result and I hope you enjoy reading this story just as much as I enjoyed writing it! P.S. I will be describing some of the Pokémon in this story, but not all of them, just to warn you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Megaman. Alright?

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"We're lost aren't we?" A girl of about eleven with long light brown hair and green eyes turned to face her companion. She wore a red jacket over a green shirt with red sweatpants to match and had her hair in ponytail.

Her friend, a boy with raven-colored hair and blue eyes, turned to face her. He wore a blue vest over a white long-sleeved shirt and jeans. He also wore a blue-colored cap.

"We are not lost, okay Keisha? I just gotta figure out this map." He turned to the map on the screen of the yellow device he was holding.

Keisha rolled her eyes, "That's the last time I leave you in charge of the Pokenav Daekar!" (Daekar's name is pronounced Day-kar just to prevent any confusion.)

"_Jolteon!"_ said the Jolteon that was accompanying them. It was a four-legged Pokemon that distantly resembled a fox with spiky fur that was yellow with a collar of white fur. It had long pointed ears and wore a red bow on its head.

"See? Even Tealsy agrees!" said Keisha, looking down at the Jolteon affectionately. Tealsy had been Keisha's first Pokémon. It had started out as an Evee but had eventually evolved into a Jolteon.

Daekar sighed and looked at the Pokenav again. He could tell that he and Keisha were nowhere near civilization, much less their destination, Vulgen City. Daekar hoped to earn his seventh gym badge there. But at some point he had read the Pokenav wrong and now…

"Okay, I give up. We're lost." He finally sighed in defeat.

"I knew it," said Keisha, a bit irritated at Daekar's refusal to admit it earlier, "C'mon let's try to at least find a Pokémon Center. We can rest up and find out where the heck we are there."

They began to wander through the forest that they were, at this point, hopelessly lost in. At some point or another, Teasly's ears perked up.

"_Jolteon!" _ It ran over to some bushes nearby and peeked through. _"Jolt! Jolteon!"_ It exclaimed.

"What's the matter Tealsy?" Keisha asked as she and Daekar walked over. Looking in the direction Tealsy was, they gasped.

Beyond the trees the forest ended. And not far from where the forest ended…was a huge camp. There were people and Pokémon both in the camp. Some were chatting but most were working in an area just beyond the camp. They could tell from the tools the people carried that they were probably digging for something.

"What is it?" Daekar asked.

"I think…" Keisha started, trying to recall some information that she had heard at the last Pokémon Center. Ah, now she remembered. Apparently some scientist was convinced that something was buried in this area. But Keisha had never thought that they might possibly stumble upon that area.

"I think it's an archeological dig…"

… … …

_Keisha and Daekar are two ordinary trainers on their journey to collect and train Pokémon. Much has changed, but little has changed in the way that people and Pokémon live, play and work together. But soon the winds of fate will set a course that none could have anticipated._

_The year is 21XX._

_Keisha and Daekar are about to discover their destiny._

Chapter 1: The Discovery of X

"Excuse me? Dr. Cain?"

"Hm?" Cain looked up from his notes to the door of his tent. His Pokémon, Zigzagoon, who had been dosing nearby, also looked up at the door tent. Cain stood up and walked over to open the tent door. "Yes?"

The person who had been at the door, one of the younger members of the dig crew if he remembered right, pointed near him, "We have visitors."

Cain observed the two trainers, both of whom looked sheepish.

It was Keisha's idea that they ask someone in the camp for directions. But their curiosity had gotten the better of the two and they had been wandering around the camp when someone has asked who they were.

After some explanation, the person, a boy just out of college who was accompanied by a Sandslash, had taken them to see the head of the dig.

"Ah, and who might you two be?" Cain asked interested as Zigzagoon emerged from the tent, yawning, behind him.

"I'm Daekar. Sorry about the intrusion. We kinda, er, got lost and winded up here." Daekar looked thoroughly embarrassed.

"Oh don't worry, trainers get lost all the time around here. And you are?" he asked, gesturing towards Keisha, who was looking at Daekar with "and it was all your fault" gaze.

"Oh," she said, snapping out of her trance and turning to regard Cain, "Sorry, I'm Keisha."

"_Jolt!"_

"Oh yeah, and that's Tealsy." She said, pointing to the Jolteon.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you all." Cain nodded in a respectful manner, "I am Dr. Cain, head of this expedition. And this here is my partner Zigzagoon." He pointed to the Pokémon near him.

"_Zigzagoon!" _Zigzagoon chirped cheerfully in greeting.

A few minutes later, Keisha and Daekar were walking with Cain through the camp. There were people and Pokémon digging at the ground. There were also numerous robots around the camp, which the Pokémon either regarded with some curiosity or ignored altogether.

"So you two are bound for Vulgen City?"

"We _were_. But I got something wrong in reading the Pokenav and we winded up here." Said Daekar glumly.

"So what exactly is being dug up here Dr. Cain?" Kaisha asked curiously.

"We just found an old building that dates back from about, oh, 20XX."

"20XX huh? The age of Megaman," said Daekar.

Anyone who knew if the slightest bit of history knew about MegaMan, the protector of the world during 200X through 20XX. His creator, Dr. Thomas Light, had made many discoveries and advancements in robotics during the time that he was alive.

"But not even Megaman's creator Dr. Light, as brilliant as he was, could do what many today consider impossible. Although the rumor goes that he came close with MegaMan," Keisha recited. Both Cain and Daekar knew exactly what she was talking about.

Despite the advancements in robotics, the one thing that no one could ever pull off was a robot that could successfully interact with Pokémon as easily as humans could. The theory was that if they could create such a robot, it would only be a short step from there to create one with more advanced capabilities.

Unfortunately, such experiments usually ended in failure. The Pokémon could tell the difference between something living and something non-living. There were those that said that Dr. Light's creation, Megaman, had managed to have a Pokémon who actually found it worthwhile to be acquainted with him. But those were just rumors and there was no evidence to back it up. But those who believed it always argued that there was no evidence against it either, which was true as well.

No matter which way you looked at it, the failed experiments led people to start saying that no matter how advanced technology might become, Pokémon and the Pokémon journey that so many younger people undertook was one thing that would never changed. Even the Pokeball had remained the same for countless years.

"Dr. Cain!!" One of the diggers ran up to Cain and stopped right in front of him.

"What is it?" Cain asked.

"Sir…" said the digger, puffing, "We've found the entrance to the building. And everyone thinks that you should have the honor of going in first."

"Well, it's about time." Turning to Keisha and Daekar, he said, "We don't you two join the group be the entrance? We might find something interesting!"

Daekar shrugged, "Why not?"

Cain quickly found that the entrance actually reached far underground. He had requested that everyone, even his Zigzagoon, to stay outside while he investigated.

He felt a sense of excitement and caution both at the same time as he finally climbed down into the building, kicking up a fair amount of dust at the same time. Looking about the area, he noticed many electronics, some of which were still active. Then he noticed something else.

A strange capsule, in the main part of the room. It was standing upright, and was a fairly good size. Cain, curious, walked over to it. He brushed some dust off the capsule and saw a roman numeral "X" engraved on it.

"Hm…" Cain muttered to himself as he examined the capsule. What could possibly be in it? A sound interrupted his thoughts. He turned around just in time to see one of the electronics come on. "What's this?" He wondered out loud as a message came on.

The first thing that Keisha and Daekar heard were the footsteps of what they thought was Dr. Cain. Most everyone else had gone to do other duties around the camp due to the fact that Cain was taking so long, leaving Keisha and Daekar alone. They let out a gasp of amazement and surprise when they saw just what was accompanying him.

It was a robot that bore tremendous resemblance to Megaman himself. His armor was multiple shades of blue and his helmet had a red crystal in it. He seemed to be looking around at everything with a level of curiosity. Neither of the two trainers was certain how to react. Was this was Cain had discovered in that building? What was it exactly? While both of them just stared, Teasly and Zigzagoon both reacted almost immediately.

Zigzagoon ran up to Cain, having been obviously worried. Cain reached down and petted its head as it closed its eyes contentedly. The robot was curiously looking on.

"That's a Pokémon, right?" He asked.

"Yes. This is my companion Zigzagoon. He's quite docile actually."

"_Zigzagoon!" _Zigzagoon said in what was more than an acknowledging tone. Which confused the two trainers watching.

"_Jolt!" _

The robot now looked down to regard the Pokémon currently at his feet. Both Keisha and Daekar blinked. Had Tealsy actually tried to gain the robot's attention? But why? What happened next only confused them even more.

The robot kneeled down to examine Teasly closer. Teasly sniffed it a bit, then let out a soft _"Jolt."_ The robot blinked a bit, looking unsure as to what to do.

"Pet her."

"Huh?" The robot looked up at Keisha in a confused manner. Keisha herself wasn't too sure what she was doing. This was a robot for goodness sake! Daekar too was wondering what Keisha was up too. But something told him that she sensed what he did. That this robot was something… more…something different.

"Go ahead and pet her. She loves it." Keisha continued, trying to maintain a calm look.

The robot slowly reached down for Teasly and began to stroke her head gently. Teasly closed her eyes and enjoyed herself for a moment. Then she did something that caught everyone completely off guard.

Teasly got up on her hind legs and licked the robot's face. He looked taken aback, and Keisha couldn't help but laugh,

"Ha ha! That means she likes you!"

"Weird, I've never seen Teasly take a liking to anything, er, inanimate so quickly before," whispered Daekar to Keisha rather awkwardly.

"I've never seen her take a liking to _anyone or_ _anything_ so quickly before!" Keisha whispered back. The whole thing was so strange, why would a Pokémon take a liking to a robot? Unless this was more than an ordinary robot.

"Why don't you two properly introduce yourselves?" Cain asked, breaking the tension a bit.

"Oh! I'm Daekar!" He said to the robot.

"And I'm Keisha!"

"_Jolteon!"_ Teasly said as she ran back to her trainer's side.

"And that's my Jolteon, Teasly. It's very nice to meet you!"

The robot stood up slowly, "My name is Megaman X, X for short."

Deep within the forest, a small Pokémon lay injured by a tree. It looked like a Pichu, a mouse-like Pokémon, except with much longer floppy blue ears, and a blue tail in the shape of a minus sign. Its paws were also a blue color along with blue cheeks with a tan minus sign on them. The rest of it was also a tan color.

It tried standing up weakly. It had to keep going. Keep going away. The consequences if it was caught were dire…

Managing to stand up, albeit shakily, it began to stumble through the forest.

It would keep going forever it meant not going back to where it came from.

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So what do you think? I'll reveal the Pokémon in that last scene in the next chapter but you might be able to guess from the description I gave. Keisha and Daekar are two OCs of mine so I own them. BTW this does NOT take place in Kanto, Johto or any of the other regions in the games.

I think I actually managed to do a good job mixing the worlds of Megaman and Pokemon though I was a bit lazy during the part where Cain finds X. Don't worry readers of "Twist in Time!" I'll have an update ready for you very soon!

Please R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Remember that Pokemon from the end of the last chapter? Well its making another appearance in this chapter! There's also some foreshadowing though I'm not going to tell what exactly is being forshadowed!

Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman or Pokemon

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_Keisha's Diary_

_Me and Daekar have just witnessed an astonishing event. The awakening of a very unique robot. Although calling X a "robot" doesn't really do him justice, when he's obviously so much more…Tealsy seems to like him well enough, which is strange considering the way Pokémon normally regard robots. But once again, X is more than a simple machine…_

Keisha looked up from her diary. She was sitting on a log on the edge of the archeology camp just before the forest began. Daekar was sitting next to her. In front of them, their Pokémon were contentedly eating.

Daekar's Pokémon consisted of a Pelipper which he had evolved from a Wingull, a Donphan which he had evolved from a Phanphy, a Hitmontop, a Sneasal, and a Charmeleon, which not only evolved from a Charmander but was also his first Pokémon.

Keisha's Pokémon were her Jolteon Tealsy, a Mothim which she had evolved from a Burmy, and an Illumise. She may not have had as many Pokémon as Daekar, but then again, she was on the road simply for the sake of traveling.

It was a lovely day, the azure sky above holding scattered fluffy white clouds. The sun above made everything its rays touched shine with a golden hue. The activity of the camp seemed a stark contrast to the serenity of the nearby forest.

Both Keisha and Daekar were reflecting on what had happened a few hours ago. That any Pokémon would take a liking to a robot was in itself a surprise, but the fact that it was Tealsy proved to be even more of a surprise. Tealsy was traditionally a bit of a prankster and preferred to pull off a few fast ones on someone as a way of getting acquainted. But she had seemed to skip that stage with X and instead took an instant liking to him.

"Never would have thought that such a thing was possible," Daekar remarked, referring to both points of what had happened, "But X can't be all that bad if Tealsy took such a quick liking to him."

Keisha looked at him, "Haven't you been looking around camp? ALL the Pokemon like him! I guess he's just one of those that naturally get along with them I guess."

"That sounds kinda awkward when you consider what we're talking about."

"'What' were talking about? I really hope you aren't referring to X because in my opinion, he's far from non-living."

"Yeah, I know."

"It looks like it's going to rain," Carlos remarked, looking up at the sky. So many things had been happening in the camp, that it was hard to believe that the day wasn't over. First, those trainers showed up that he had escorted to Cain's tent. And then what would likely be regarded as the greatest discovery in history was made. He himself hadn't exactly believed it when he heard of the girl trainer's Jolteon's reaction to X, until he had bumped into him soon after. Sandslash clearly liked him, as did most of the other Pokemon, with the exception of a few who were normally stingy anyway, in the camp.

"How can you tell?" One of the people helping him with the digging asked. Cain had insisted that they try to see if, by any chance, anything else was buried in the area.

"This guy here is starting to act up," he gestured to his Sandslash. It was happily scraping away at the dirt, but every so often the porcupine-like Pokémon would stop and look nervously up at the sky.

Another person laughed, "Hah! That makes sense! Sandslash hate water, so it's only natural that they know when it's going to rain!"

"Crud! I can't believe it just started to pour down like that!" Keisha and Daekar were running into the camp. Keisha couldn't help but sympathize with Daekar's complaint. The rain had caught them off guard, and after returning their Pokemon to their Pokeballs with the exception of Tealsy who usually remained out, had hurried to take shelter in one of the tents.

"Oi! Over here!" The two trainers turned to see the person with the Sandslash who they had met earlier waving from one of the tents. They ran over, their shoes squashing on the ground and kicking up a fair amount of mud from puddles, and were both soon inside the tent.

"Thanks," said Keisha, as she took off her soaking wet jacket. Daekar took off his hat and began twisting the water out of it. Tealsy simply shook herself and the nearby Sandslash flinched away from the droplets of water flying off it.

"Don't mention it," was Carlos's response.

Meanwhile, in another tent, the wheels of destiny that had been set in motion with X's discovery were about to bring about an event that none could have anticipated.

"Well, that rainstorm was certainly unexpected." Cain remarked, thoroughly soaked. He was in his tent with X, and he had been showing him around the camp when the rain had started. And it didn't just start off sprinkling either. Clouds had gathered with little notice, and then the heavens had just opened up.

"_Zigzagoon!" _The raccoon Pokemon chirped as it shook itself free of some of the water. X lifted his arm to his face as the water droplets went flying. He suddenly spotted something out of the corner of his eye as Cain scolded the Zigzagoon,

"Come on now! You know not to do that in here!" The Pokemon looked ashamed. Then Cain noticed that X was looking out of the tent entrance. "What's wrong X?"

"I see something out there…" was X's response as he went outside the tent with the intent of following whatever was out there.

X was certain that what he had seen was a Pokemon. "Hey, wait!" He called out as it moved swiftly through the camp. X followed it through the camp, although he did not know why. He felt as if he had to catch it…that there was something important about it.

He lost it as soon as it reached the forest, but what he saw by a nearby tree made him stop short anyway. Curled up by the tree, was a badly injured Pokemon. It was in a pitiful state, with mud and wet fur adding to its injuries. The Pokemon itself looked a bit like a mouse, with floppy ears, forepaws, a minus sign-shaped tail and cheeks all whose color reminded X of the color of his armor. Its cheeks also bore a light tan minus sign, with the rest of its body also a light tan.

X slowly walked over and knelt next to it. Hesitantly, he reached out and began stroking its head much in the same way that he had petted that Jolteon earlier. The creature weakly opened its eyes. It suddenly flinched away X's hand as it realized that it was there. X withdrew a little, observing it curiously. It was frightened, he could tell that much. It eyes were for a moment, filled with fear, but of what? The Pokemon took one look at X and froze. Then it craned its head out and warily sniffed him.

"_Min…"_ it said weakly before retreating back into its previous position. X reached out and began petting it again. This time, it didn't flinch, nor did its eyes show any fear when it looked weakly at him again. Without being exactly sure of what he was doing, he slowly reached out and scooped up the Pokemon into his arms. He knew enough to know that it was hurt and that it needed help. For some reason, he just couldn't bear to leave it out here. The Pokemon looked up at him again as X smiled down on it. It let out another weak sound before finally letting itself fall asleep.

"X! What were you doing out-"

"Omigosh! Look!" Keisha interrupted Cain when she noticed the injured Pokemon in X's arms. After X had left, Cain had gone outside after him. Keisha and Daekar had noticed and had followed out of curiousity.

Daekar took out his Pokedex:

_Minun, The Cheering Pokemon_

_It cheers on friends. If its friends are losing, its body lets off more and more sparks._

"Huh, I didn't know that there were wild Minun here." Daekar commented, looking at the Pokemon. It was in terrible shape. Had it been attacked?

"What happened?" Keisha asked, examining the Minun.

"I don't know," X admitted, "I just found it over there." He gestured to a nearby tree.

Daekar nodded in understanding, "Alright, let's get it inside."

It awoke, feeling strangly rested and recovered. It took it a few moments to realize that it was inside somewhere. Panic went through it. Had it been discovered? The last thing it remembered was being found by that blue...well there was really no word to describe it.

It sat up and took a good look around. It was on a bed, and one of the first things it noticed was the one that had found it last night. Relief now replaced its panic. By the look of it, he had fallen asleep against the wall. It chirped, _"Minun"_ and promptly went over and nudged him.

X stirred, as he felt something trying to nudge him awake. He opened his eyes and turned to find the Pokemon he had found last night, completely healed and looking very energetic.

"Hey, you're alright!" X had insisted on staying by its side last night, being worried that it might not pull through. Cain had been reluctant but Keisha and Daekar had been nice enough to grant him his request. Remembering something he reached out and began to stroke the Minun, which then closed its eyes contentedly.

Something told it it would be safe with him.

"Oh! Look!" Keisha slightly elbowed Daekar and gestured in one direction.

"Hm? Oh!" He exclaimed as he saw X emerge from the tent with the Minun close behind. Daekar and Keisha walked over. As they did, Minun noticed. It flinched and promptly took refuge behind X, looking extremely nervous as X looked down at it puzzled.

"Good morning X," said Keisha as she nodded in greeting.

"Oh!" X looked up at the two trainers walking up, "Good morning Keisha, Daekar." They both nodded in greeting.

Keisha then leaned down with her hands on her knees to talk to the Minun, "And its good to see you're awake! You gave us quite a scare!"

"Yeah, it looks like that Super Potion really did the trick!" Daekar remarked. Minun simply pushed itself further behind X's leg, as if trying to hide itself from view.

Keisha frowned, "What's wrong with it?"

"I don't know..." X admitted as he looked at the Minun.

Daekar got down on one knee to speak to the nervous Pokemon, "Hey what's wrong...?" He asked as he slowly reached out to pet it. Keisha suddenly noticed sparks flying from its cheeks.

"Uh, Daekar...!" Too late.

_"Minun!" _The Pokemon cried out as it let lose a Thunderbolt! Daekar was literally shocked to the core.

Keisha sighed as Cain walked up with Zigzagoon, "What happened?" Was the first thing Cain asked as Minun peeked out from behind X as nervous as ever.

"Y'know that Minun we found last night? It just shocked Daekar." She pointed to a slightly smoking Daekar as he stood up. "Here let me try..." Keisha reached for the Minun but it simply drew back and let off some more warning sparks. She quickly withdrew.

Tealsy and Zigzagoon ran up to the hiding Minun and regarded it with curiousity. Minun came out just a little bit more and let out a nervous _"Min."_ Tealsy batted it playfully, as if to say 'Come on out and play with us!' Zigzagoon also nudged reassuringly. Minun gave Zigzagoon an aknowledging nod but made clear that it wasn't leaving X anytime soon.

X finally got down on one knee and reached out for it slowly. "X, I don't think that's such a good-Huh!?" Daekar was about to say that it wasn't a good idea for X to try to pet it, as he expected the Minun to shock him. But to everyone's suprise, when X petted it, it simply closed its eyes and looked up happily. Both Keisha and Daekar knew that look on a Pokemon well enough to know what it meant.

"Well, it cetainly seems to like X well enough doesn't it?" Cain remarked as the Minun actually _lept_ into X's arms. X continued to stroke it as it chirped happily.

"I think we have a situation," was Keisha's only answer.

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Guess what's coming next? In the next chapter we're going to have a Pokemon battle! And just what is up with that Minun?

The real interesting thing about this story is seeing what kind of Pokemon each character from the games is going to have. Can anyone guess what Pokemon I'm planning on Zero having? Here's a hint, its related (not the family related!) to X's Pokemon. And just wait till' you see what Pokemon I have planned for Sigma and Vile! I think Sigma's Pokemon is going to surprise some.

R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

Once again I have kept my readers waiting for a ridiculously long time. I apologize but it's kinda hard to keep up when you keep getting grounded from the computer and going through writer's block. I'm almost done with the fourth chapter of this which you can expect soon, but for "Twist in Time" readers I'm afraid that the next chapter of that story is going to take a bit longer! Sorry!

In the meantime, enjoy the third chapter of "MMX: Of Creatures and Reploids!"

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Megaman.

--

When Keisha said they had a situation, she meant it. After all, only one robot had come even close to being able to properly interact with Pokemon. But X had transcended so many expectations plus some.

Minun refused to leave X's side, even for a moment. It followed X all around the camp like a loyal Growlithe. Every time someone would try to properly approach it, it would immediately hide behind X and had a few times sent out warning sparks. It was clear that the only one it trusted was X.

At one point Daekar approached X while Minun retreated in its usual way. All around them, people were packing up camp. Everyone would be leaving soon and Keisha and Daekar had every intention of hitting the road again once the camp left.

Daekar looked at Minun, "I'm not going to hurt you y'know." Minun just pushed itself against X as if trying to make itself disappear.

X sighed, "It's been like that all day."

Daekar nodded, "Yeah I know. Hey X," X looked at him and blinked, "Cain said that you saw a Pokemon last night," Daekar continued, "Do you remember what it looked like?" He took out his Pokedex, "If you tell me what it looked like, I may be able to identify what Pokemon it was." X then nodded in understanding and told him what he had seen last night. Daekar flipped through his Pokedex until, "Was it this Pokemon?" He asked, showing X the Pokedex.

"Yeah! That's it!" X exclaimed.

"Huh. Interesting." Daekar looked at his Pokedex again.

_Ninetales, The Fox Pokemon_

_Its nine tales are said to be imbued with a mystic power. It can live for a thousand years._

Daekar knew for a fact that Ninetales were very rare in the wild. And they certainly weren't found in the area they were currently in. _So then, what was it doing here?_

n/n/n/n/

"X saw a Ninetales last night?" Keisha asked, "Why would there be Ninetales in this area?"

"There _aren't_ Ninetales in this area. I just checked. They build their nests in an area so far from here that it would be impossible for a wild one to be here." Daekar and Keisha were walking around camp, occasionally helping with packing up.

"Maybe it belongs to someone in camp?" She suggested.

"No. I checked around camp. No one here has a Ninetales."

Keisha now looked irritated, "Then what was it doing here?" Before Daekar could respond, a familiar person walked up, accompanied by a Sandslash.

"Hey, Daekar?" Carlos stopped in front of him, looking a bit restless.

"What do you want?" Daekar asked.

"Well I was thinking," Carlos began, "Since we're going to be leaving soon and all and since I know that you already have six badges, I thought that maybe you would like a quick workout."

Daekar smiled in a knowing way, "Is that a challenge?"

"Maaaybe."

"Well then I accept! I didn't battle at all yesterday and I need to pick up the slack!"

n/n/n/n/

"What's going on?" X asked. He and Cain were in another part of the camp when they noticed a small crowd forming just outside the camp. Minun and Zigzagoon were with them as well. Minun was clearly trying to keep it's distance from Cain while trying to stick close to X at the same time.

Cain looked puzzled, "I truly don't know. Let's go see, shall we?"

When they reached the crowd, the first thing they saw was Keisha, who looked a tad bit awkward. Tealsy was sitting loyally next to her. Keisha turned when she noticed them, "Oh! Dr. Cain! X!" She looked down, "And hello to you two too!"

"_Zigzagoon!" _Minun said nothing, just pushed itself against X, clearly uncomfortable.

"What's going on here?" Cain asked. Keisha sighed,

"Let's just say that Daekar's competitive instinct when it comes to Pokemon has just gotten the better of him once again." It was then that they noticed that Daekar and Carlos were in the center of a clearing in the crowd, at opposite ends.

"Go! Rhyhorn!" Carlos tossed out a small red and white ball into the center of the field. The ball opened up to release a large light that formed into a large Pokemon that looked a lot like a rhino made of stone.

"Go! Hitmontop!" Daekar tossed out his Pokeball into the field. It opened up and the light formed a Hitmontop, a Fighting type Pokemon.

"Rhyhorn, use Take Down!" Carlos commanded.

The Rhyhorn charged forward, smashing right into Hitmontop. The fighting type Pokemon was prompt blown back.

"Hitmontop, use Rapid Spin!" At Daekar's command the Pokemon began to spin on its head like a top.

"I don't get it, what's going on?" X asked confused.

"It's a Pokemon battle," said Cain simply.

"Huh?"

"It's when two Pokemon trainers pit their Pokemon against each other in a competition; a battle in other words," explained Keisha, "The trainer commands his Pokemon by telling it what techniques and attacks to use. The battle normally ends when a trainer has knocked out either all of the opposing trainer's Pokemon or a predetermined number of the other trainer's Pokemon." She paused for a moment, taking note of how X still looked slightly confused, "Why don't you just watch? I'm sure you'll get it."

"Rhyhorn use Horn Attack!" Rhyhorn pawed at the ground and charged forward again.

"Dodge and use Triple Kick!" Daekar commanded.

As Rhyhorn charged forward, Hitmontop, still spinning, managed to spin one direction out of the path of Rhyhorn's charge. Rhyhorn quickly turned around in preparation for another charge when it was met with a flurry of kicks from the Hitmontop. The Rhyhorn was blown back and skirted a ways along the ground on its side. It attempted to get up, staggered, only to collapse again, clearly out of commission.

"Think it's okay?" X asked, a bit concerned.

"It'll be fine. This is typical for a battle," replied Keisha.

Minun, meanwhile, had at this point climbed up to X's shoulder and had been watching the whole battle intensely. Something inside it was racing and a familiar instinct was rising up within it.

"Great job Hitmontop!" Daekar called as the Fighting-type Pokemon stopped spinning and looked at its Trainer.

"Return Ryhorn!" The Rhyhorn vanished in a red light as Carlos returned it to its Pokeball. Daekar did the same thing with Hitmoptop.

Carlos put the Pokeball away in one of his pockets and took out another one, "Come on out, Gligar!"Carlos tossed the Pokeball. Out of it, in a flash of white light, came a Pokemon that looked like a cross between a bat and a scorpion.

"Go! Sneasal!" Daekar sent out another Pokeball. Sneasal appeared in a flash of white light.

"Gligar, use Arieal Ace!" The Gligar rose into the air, and then swooped at the Sneasal, smashing into it before rising into the air again. Sneasal shook itself, trying to shake off the hit.

"Sneasal, use Ice Beam!" Sneasal let out a blue bolt from its mouth, aimed at the Gligar. The Gligar dodged it in midair.

"Gligar, use Arieal Ace again!" Gligar dove at Sneasal again. This time, it scored a direct hit. As Sneasal was blown back, Gligar rose into the air again. "Now use Poison Sting!" Gligar aimed its tail at Sneasal. The tail glowed and a series of needles flew from it towards Sneasal.

"Counter with Fury Swipes!" Sneasal understood, and began to slash at the needles multiple times with its claws. The needles fell to the ground, having been blocked by Sneasal's own claws."Now use Ice Beam!" Sneasal unleased a blue bolt from its mouth again. The bolt slammed into Gligar, hard. Gligar came crashing down to the ground and landed hard. It than lay on the ground, knocked clean out.

"Return Gligar!" Gligar vanished in a red light back into its Pokeball.

"Return Sneasal!" Daekar called out, returning the Sharp Claw Pokemon to its Pokeball. He looked at the ball, affectionately, "Nice effort, take a break," he spoke to it. Putting the ball back on his belt, he took out another one. Enlarging it, he called out, "Go, Charmeleon!" He tossed the ball.

The ball opened up and Daekar's loyal Charmeleon appeared on the field in a white light.

_"Char."_ It growled, ready for battle.

"Charmeleon, huh? That'll certainly do it." Keisha commented.

"What do you mean?" X asked.

"Charmeleon is really strong, even against water-type Pokemon which it would normally be weak against. I should know. I've watched it in battle multiple times. If Carlos wants to score a win, he better have something good to counter it."

Carlos nodded to his Sandslash that was standing nearby. Sandslash returned the nod in understanding. It had just started to walk out when suddenly...

_"Minun! Min!"_ Minun had leapt from X's shoulder and had ran out into the middle of the battlefield. It stood before Daekar and Charmeleon, sparks flying from its cheeks.

"What? You want a battle?" Daekar asked it.

_"Minun!"_ It spoke, nodding its head. It then turned towards X, chirping _"Minun! Minun!"_

Everyone became stone silent. A few whispers flew around here and there. Was Minun asking X to command it?

Keisha nudged X slightly, who was looking very confused, "Go on out there," she whispered.

"Why? I don't get what's-oh!" Minun ran over; spoke a few times than ran back. X slowly followed it out on to the battle field. Carlos took a few good steps backward to make way for X. He, like many others, was nervous about what was coming next.

Daekar took out his Pokedex and opened it. He began to scan Minun with it, "It looks like it knows Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, Spark, and Iron Tail." He put the Pokedex away, "Try telling it to do one of those attacks X." He knew what he was doing but why avoid what was at this point, inevitable?

Although everyone knew what was going to happen, that did not lessen the impact of the event.

"Alright, I'll try," X paused for a moment before calling out..."Minun use Quick Attack!"

Minun charged at Charmeleon and slammed into it hard in what was clearly a Quick Attack. With that single moment, history had been made. A Pokemon had actually _obeyed_ a _robot's_ command to attack!

The intensity of the event was soon quickly lost in the ensuring events.

Daekar's insticts as a Trainer kicked in the moment Minun attacked, "Charmeleon, use Headbutt!"

Charmeleon, who had been reeling from Minun's attack, quickly regained its composure and slammed into Minun with its head. Minun cried out it pain. For a fleeting moment, there was a look of panic on X's face. That quickly faded as Minun quickly stood, smiling and sparks flying from its cheeks.

It hit Daekar at that moment. One of a Pokemon's strongest instincts was that of battle. Had Minun leapt in because it hadn't fought in an unusually long time? Had that instict of battle been triggered by watching him and Carlos fight?

It wasn't something he could dwell on for very long though.

"Minun, use Iron Tail!" Minun's tail glowed as it charged forward. It leapt up into the air and brought its tail down on Charmeleon.

Daekar took a brief moment to contemplate how X sounded a bit awkward. But then again, he _was_ new at this. "Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

"Minun, use Spark!" Minun charged forward as it crackled with electricity as Charmeleon unleashed a stream of flame from it mouth. What happened then was incredible. Minun cut right _through_ the Flamethrower! Daekar was startled. The combination of its speed and amount of electricity was enough to divert the fire around it! It tackled a clearly taken-off guard Charmeleon. "Now try Thunderbolt!" Now Daekar got it. X was just trying out its attacks! What after that though?

"_Mi,"_ Sparks flew from Minun's cheeks, _"nun!"_ It cried as it unleashed it Thunderbolt!

"C'mon Charmeleon! Get moving!" Daekar called out! It had to dodge that! Charmeleon was still cringing from the blow. It didn't seem to want to move though. No, it was more like it _couldn't_ move! It was then that Daekar noticed that electricity was still sparking around it. Then it dawned on him. That Spark attack had paralyzed Charmeleon!

Daekar knew he had lost the second the Thunderbolt hit Charmeleon. The Thunderbolt had so much power behind it! How could a Minun that strong come from the wild? His wonder was quickly replaced by concern as the attack ceased. Charmeleon fell on the ground, badly injured and smoking. "Charmeleon!" He ran over to his Pokemon's side. Charmeleon looked up at its Trainer.

"_Char,"_ It spoke, sounding ashamed.

"Its alright, you did a great job. Now return," Charmeleon vanished into its Pokeball. Daekar looked up and saw that Minun had leapt into X's arms, and was now affectionately licking him.

The crowd, including Cain and Keisha, was stone silent.

n/n/n/n/

X wasn't too sure what was going on. Everywhere he went in the camp, everyone seemed to treat him differently. They seemed to be more respectful but slightly fearful as well. It all seemed to stem from what happened during the Pokemon battle. He wasn't too sure what the big deal was.

Minun, on the other hand, had suddenly become more cheerful and energetic since the battle. It now walked happily beside him. Although it still hid behind him every time someone besides himself approached it, it came out as soon as it whoever it was departed.

X continued to search around the camp, until he finally found who he was looking for.

"Daekar! Keisha!" He called out.

"Hm?" Both trainers looked up from their lunch of sandwiches. They were at the edge of the camp, with their Pokemon eating as well.

"Oh X!" Keisha exclaimed, "Hey be sure to watch your-"

_"Minun!"_

"-step."

X looked down into the hole that Minun had apparently fallen into. Tealsy, having heard it fall in, promptly looked up from it's food, ran over, and peeked into the hole. Keisha came over as well.

Tealsy began chortling as Minun pitifully cried out for help. Keisha gave Tealsy a scolding look, "That's not funny and you know it!"

"What does Tealsy have to do with it?" X asked.

"She was the one who dug this hole. It's one of her pranks. I try to discourage her, but it's just no use," She sighed, "Mothim! See if you can't get this poor thing out of there!"

Mothim looked up from eating. With a call, it lifted up and flapped over to Keisha. She pointed down towards the hole. With another call and an annoyed glance at Tealsy, it dove into the hole and landed gracefully on the bottom. Minun looked at it for a moment, confused. Mothim fluttered its wings slightly, indicating that Minun should climb on. Minun perked up in realization, ran over, and climbed on Mothim's back. Mothim flapped its wings, and rose out of the pit.

The moment Mothim cleared the top of the pit, Minun jumped off and landed next to X. Keisha looked at Tealsy, "You should apologize!" She scolded. Tealsy looked at Minun,

"_Jolte."_ It said, clearly doing what Keisha asked.

Keisha shook her head. Daekar, who had been watching the whole time, chuckled. Tealsy would do it again. It always did.

n/n/n/n/

"Here you go." Daekar placed a bowl of food in front of Minun. He knew for a fact that it hadn't eaten since last night, so it was probably a good idea for it to fill up.

Minun looked down at the food bowl, a bit unsure of itself. X was sitting nearby, talking with Keisha and Daekar, so at least he could protect it if anything happened. But still…

It became aware of its stomach growling. It hadn't eaten anything in so long…

Finally, Minun gave in to its hunger pangs. It picked up a food pellet and chomped it down. Then it perked up. This actually tasted good! It ate another pellet. Pretty soon, it heard the girl, Keisha, talk to it, "Don't eat so fast! You're going to give yourself a stomach ache!" It slowed down on its eating. It heard the other Pokemon talking amongst themselves, but it paid little attention to them.

It soon became aware of Keisha approaching it. Panicking, it quickly ran over to X, _"Minun! Minun!"_ It spoke fearfully.

Keisha sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to brush your fur. It's a matted mess. X, can you get it to stand still for a few minutes?"

Minun leapt into X's arms, much to his surprise. He began to pet it reassuringly, noting how it seemed to cast nervous glances every so often at both Keisha and Daekar. "...I don't really think its going to be still for you Keisha. It's scared of you for some reason."

Keisha looked thoughtful for a moment, and then a lightbulb went off in her head, "I know! Here..." She walked over and gave X the brush. X looked at her questioningly as she took his hand with the brush in it, "If things continue going the way we suspect it will...then you need to learn how to take care of this nervous wreck." She said, winking at a shuddering Minun, "Now.." She gently guided X's hand until the brush was on Minun's head.

Minun was unsure of whether it should be scared or not. The girl was there and so was X…Oh! It felt the brush run through its fur. It felt wonderful! It heard the girl speak, "You want to do it gently enough so it doesn't pull at its fur but strong enough so that it actually does something. Brushing it especially important for electric Pokemon because it helps discharge excess electricity. Just don't use a metal brush! And there! I think you got it." Keisha drew her hand away from X's, which she had been guiding and backed off.

Daekar watched as X continued to brush a content Minun, which had curled up on his lap enjoying every moment of the grooming. Daekar still found the whole thing at the same time frightening and exciting. The only question was, what now?

n/n/n/n/

"You two want to what?"

"Come with Dr. Cain. It's on the way to Vulgen City. And besides, I heard from someone that the mountain pass is blocked. Some sort of avalanche."

Cain sighed. He wasn't sure whether or not to grant Daekar's request. The two trainers had done a lot already and he wanted to keep X's discovery as low as possible as well until the time was right.

Daekar seemed to sense his conflict. He smiled, albeit, sadly, "I know it's a lot to ask Dr. Cain. But me and Keisha want to see how things are going to play out from here. At the very least let us stay until the pass is clear."

Cain sighed, "Very well then. But I can tell there's another reason. What is it?"

Daekar chuckled, "It's that Minun actually. We still have to figure out what the heck to do about it."

--

In the Pokemon anime, one of the characters reveals that one can use their Pokedex to find out what moves a Pokemon has. Just in case anyone didn't know.

What a battle(Although I get the feeling it wasn't written too well)! I'm finally going to introduce some more MMX characters in the next chapter including a certain red one! I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope that you all stick around through my sporadic updates to read what happens. Players of the first MMX game know how everything turns out but as I've said before, the Pokemon are going to put some special twists on the story.

I went through many different versions of the battle before settling on this one. It was originally supposed to be a songfic section with the opening theme from the first Pokemon movie. But unfortunately, song lyrics aren't allowed on so I had to write it another way. Another thing that changed was the timing. One option I considered was having it take place before Keisha and Daekar even reached the camp. But that's not the way my typing went! All things considered, I like the way it turned out.

As I was going over this, I was thinking that maybe I should have made the Pokemon X encountered in the previous chapter a legendary one. But not only did that seem a bit cliche, but that Ninetales has a very special significance that will come into play later in the story. It was the best way to introduce it into the story.

Sincere thanks to all my reviewers and my readers!

R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

This time, I have a good reason for the delay. I had to look up a video and then write what happened (You'll understand once you've read this chapter!). I'm focusing on this story now because I'm a bit stuck on "Twist in Time." But as I said before, I have a lot of fun writing this as it combines two of my obsessions!

In this chapter, while I'm not going to get into the novelization game itself for a few more chapters at least, I am going to get into another very important event that occurs before the game begins. Can you guess what it is? You'll have to read in order to find out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Megaman.

--

_"I can't believe you guys are really leaving..." said X softly and sadly. He was outside Cain's house, with Cain, Minun, who was on X's shoulder, and Zigzagoon. Keisha and Daekar, along with Tealsy, was standing before them. It was early in the morning, the air crisp and cool, the city not far from where they were just starting to come to life with various noises._

_"Well, with the mountain pass finally clear, we can finally get going to Vulgen City. I still have a League challenge to complete," said Daekar. He was also sad about leaving. The things that he and Keisha had witnessed these past few days had been incredible. And he just knew that this was just the beginning. He had a feeling, an instinct really, that there was more to come, that this story that had started with X's discovery was just beginning. But he was still a Pokemon trainer. His journey called for him. They needed to move on._

_"I'm still going to miss you two though..."_

_"We know," said Keisha, sadness in her tone as well, "But we still need to leave." She was trying her best to keep her composure. This was the hardest goodbye she and Daekar had ever had to make..._

_"Can we at least expect you two to keep in touch?" Cain asked._

_"Of course!" Daekar responded immediately._

_"We'll also make sure to visit even!" Keisha added. How could they not, with what they had experienced here?_

"Jolteon..."_ Tealsy said sadly. Keisha glanced down at the Electric-type Pokemon sadly. Even Tealsy didn't want to leave..._

_"But before we go..." Daekar took off his backpack and set it on the ground. He unzipped it and then began to rummage through it. When his hand came out of it, it was holding a Pokeball. He enlarged it, and then stood up._

_"What Pokemon is in there?" X asked._

_"It's empty at the moment," explained Daekar, "Me and Keisha talked it over last night and we want you to have it." He held it out._

_Cain's eye widened slightly. Did these two know the magnitude of what they were about to do?_

_X stepped forward and took the Pokeball. Stepping back, he looked at it confused, "But what will I do with it?" As if to answer that question, Minun began to speak happily,_

"Min! Minun!"_ It leapt down from X's shoulder and stood facing him, _"Minun! Minun!"

_Keisha chuckled, "I think you can figure that out."_

_"I hope you two realize just what's about to happen," said Cain._

_"Of course we do," said Daekar, "We aren't making this decision lightly. But Minun doesn't like anyone else and it doesn't want to go back to the wild either."_

_Realization dawned on X's face. "Do you two mean...?" He asked, looking at them, a bit uncertain._

_They both nodded in confirmation and assurance, "Go ahead," said Keisha gently._

_"Alright then. Here we go!" X tossed the Pokeball at Minun._

"Minun!"_ Minun jumped towards the Pokeball as it opened up. Minun vanished into it in a red light._

_X picked up the Pokeball as everyone else looked on. The red light on the ball blinked a few times as it shoke a bit. The red light then faded, indicating that Minun was now caught. The ball then opened up and Minun reappeared in a white light._

_"I think I prefer it out of the Pokeball," X remarked as Minun happily scrambled up to his shoulder and began nuzzling his cheek affectionately._

_"That's fine. I leave Tealsy out of her Pokeball all the time," Keisha remarked, watching the clearly ecstatic Minun._

_"I hope you both knew what you were doing. This is bound to have repercussions," said Cain._

_"We know," said Deakar, shouldering his backpack, "The question is whether those repercussions will be good or bad."_

_"And either way," Keisha continued, "I think we did the right thing."_

"Minun!"_ Minun jumped down from X's shoulder, and slowly walked up to Deakar and Keisha. It looked uncertain for a moment, and then it finally lowered its head. Daekar seemed to understand. He got down on one knee and slowly reached for it. This time, it didn't send out sparks, but it did tense a little. It clearly flinched when he touched it, but then looked at him in confusion as he began to stroke its head gently._

"_I think this is its way of thanking us," Keisha remarked as she reached down and began to pet it as well._

Both Daekar and Keisha left after that, with Dr. Cain and X bidding them farewell…

Months passed. Many things occurred during that time. Among them was the creation of the reploids and, following that, the outbreak of the rouge reploids known as Mavericks. The Maverick Hunters were established in order to combat them. X, feeling partly responsible for what happened, joined them. And now…

n/n/n/n/

"X!"

"Huh?" X turned to regard the navigator that walked up to him. The Maverick Hunter HQ was busy as usual. Not just with the Hunters themselves, but also with the various Pokemon that accompanied them. His own Minun was on his shoulder.

"There's a call waiting for you!"

X blinked. Who outside the base would possibly want to contact him? He couldn't seem to recall anyone outside the Hunters that he knew very well. He didn't ask who was calling, instead making his way to the video phone room.

He got his answer soon enough anyway.

"Hey X! Long time, no see!"

"Oh Daekar! Didn't expect you to call again so soon." X was mildly embarrassed with himself for forgetting about his Trainer friend. Just as they had promised, Daekar and Keisha called frequently to check in and also keep X informed about how they were doing.

Minun jumped down from his shoulder, _"Minun!"_

"Hey Minun! Good to see you too!" said Daekar.

"_Minun!"_ The electric Pokemon said in response.

X chuckled slightly at his Pokemon's energy. In the time he had had Minun, it had grown more confident. It had also grown more trusting of Keisha and Daekar as well, as evident by its reaction whenever they called. It had even grown to trust Cain and the resident nurse, Tiana. Unfortunately, it was still nervous around people, specifically humans, and hid whenever one it wasn't familiar with was around. It didn't seem to have a problem with reploids, though.

"Where's Keisha?" X asked.

"She's outside the emergency room, worried sick about Electrode."

"Electrode?"

"She recently caught it while we were exploring an abandoned power plant. How are things on your end?"

"Besides the Maverick attacks, it hasn't really been all that eventful. What's so funny?" He asked when he heard Daekar chuckle.

"It's just that, I still find it very ironic that you hate fighting so much, and yet you still insisted on joining the Hunters." Daekar and Keisha had both been shocked when they had learned that piece of news. They had both held the belief that the only kind of fighting that X enjoyed were Pokemon battles.

X just shook his head, "It's far from a laughing matter. The Maverick attacks have been increasing in frequency. And then there's the public's general opinion of us. The only humans besides Cain and Tiana who seem to treat us when any degree of respect are the occasional passing Trainer."

"That's because they know that no matter what they may think of you as people, they know that at least owe you respect as fellow Pokemon trainers." Daekar heard a familiar voice call for him. "Ah! That's Keisha! I gotta go!"

"Hope to talk to you soon!" X said. The video phone turned off. X stood up from his seat as Minun leapt back up on his shoulder.

n/n/n/n/

"There you go! Good as new!" Tiana smiled as she gently petted the Prinplup's head. It had been pretty badly hurt, but it wasn't anything should couldn't handle.

Tiana had short brown hair and wore a turquoise hairband. She had blue eyes that were filled with endless compassion. She wore a white outfit with a skirt.

Tiana was the Pokemon nurse for the Hunters simply because the "racist pricks" outside refused to station a Nurse Joy there. Tiana, recognizing the need, had stepped up to take the job.

And of course, it was beyond anything she had ever expected.

"_Prin! Prinplup!"_ The Prinplup said.

"Prinplup is asking where its Trainer is." Chatot, her Pokemon, landed on her shoulder. Chatot was very chatty, and had a unique gift: He was smart enough to learn, understand, and speak a human language. Tiana didn't have a member of the Chansey line to help her out, but Chatot was fair enough help. On top of that, he was often used as a translator.

"Chill went out on a mission while you were recovering," Tiana explained to the anxious water Pokemon, "But he should be back soon enough."

As if on cue, the door to the nursing wing opened. Two reploids stepped through. One of them was the one Prinplup had asked for, A-class hunter Chill Penguin. The other one was his comrade, also an A-class Hunter, Storm Eagle. Perched on Storm's shoulder, was a Pidgeotto.

Prinplup ran over to its trainer, clearly happy to see him again. Pidgeotto lifted off from Storm's shoulder, and perched nearby. Chatot soon followed suit, landing next to the fellow flying-type Pokemon. The two were soon chatting eagerly.

"So I take it all went well?" Chill asked, a bit anxious.

"Don't worry. Prinplup's fine." Tiana reassured. It was then that she noticed that Storm was holding something. After another moment, she realized that it was a Pokemon. And a badly injured one at that. "Where did you find that!?" She exclaimed.

"Out in the Garden," Storm explained as he set the Pokemon down on the table.

Chatot took immediate interest, "A Plusle! I was expecting one to show up considering how we already have a Minun around base."

Tiana half-ignored him, "It must be wild since no one I know of around here has a Plusle." Wild Pokemon were a common sight in the Garden, a special part of MHHQ. It had been constructed as a place for the Hunters' Pokemon to relax and enjoy themselves. It was a large outdoor area with trees, grass, flowers, and even a pair of good-sized ponds and a rocky area for ground and rock type Pokemon. Naturally, many wild Pokemon had taken notice of it and were quick to start settling it. There was now a great variety residing there. It was a good thing since it provided a fairly steady supply of Pokemon for rookie Hunters that didn't yet have one.

The Plusle looked to be in pretty bad shape. Tiana was mildly surprised when it attempted to stand up. It managed a small glance around before collapsing again. She laughed slightly. This one was a fighter. It had likely gotten hurt in a scrap with another wild Pokemon.

"Chatot, would you go make sure the others are doing all right?" Tiana asked. Tiana could have several Pokemon under her care in the nursing wing at any given time.

Chatot lifted his wing to his head in a salute, "Yes Ma'am!" Chatot flew off to another part of the wing while Tiana took a closer look at Plusle. If it still had some energy left, then it probably wasn't as bad as it looked. This could still take a while, though.

"Anything we can do to help?" Storm asked. The Hunters seemed to like assisting her in their spare time. Maybe it was because they were afraid that she would be overwhelmed otherwise.

Tiana looked thoughtful for a moment, "Yes, would you two be as kind as to check to see if those Sitrus plants have come up yet? I really need to restock soon."

n/n/n/n/

As X left the video phone room, he heard some Hunters talking,

"Did you hear? Garma's unit was destroyed!"

X stopped. Garma was an experienced Hunter who had had a few close calls. If he remembered correctly, his Pokemon had been an Ursaring.

"It was!? How!?" Another Hunter asked, surprised.

"They were out on a mission when they were attacked by some crazy Maverick! Completely obliterated them!"

"What happened to their Pokemon?"

"I recently saw them in the nursing wing. Guess the Maverick didn't find them worth its time."

"They never do."

That was true. For some strange reason, the Mavericks, reploid Mavericks not Mechaniloids, never harmed a single Pokemon. In fact, many of them more often than not possessed Pokemon themselves. As a result, the Hunters usually brought their own Pokemon with them, as Mavericks had a tendency to sic their own on them. Another reason the Hunters used their Pokemon on missions was that they could come in handy against Maverick Mechaniloids. X continued to listen.

"So what do they plan to do about the Maverick?"

"I heard the commander went in to deal with it personally."

X mind immediately whirled. The commander!?

n/n/n/n/

Two scouts were hiding out behind a rock, watching the building that was in front of them. The area they were in was very rocky and dusty. Both of them were nervous.

They heard footsteps behind them and then a strong voice, "What's the current situation?"

Both scouts turned around, "Commander!" One of them said.

Sigma was bigger than most reploids, which made him a bit intimidating. A black fox-like Pokemon with yellow markings stood by him loyally.

"Where's that red Maverick that wiped out Garma's unit?" Sigma asked, his voice dead serious.

One of the scouts gulped, "In…Inside! He's inside that door!"

"_Umbreon!"_ The Dark-type Pokemon took a stance, as if reading itself for battle.

Sigma nodded in understanding, "You may all leave now….I'll take care of this personally! And no, you aren't coming along." He added to the shocked Umbreon. Umbreon looked at its trainer for a few moments with a mixture of shock and concern. Then it promptly stood erect like a soldier,

"_Umbre!"_ it said a sharp, understanding tone, like a soldier addressing its commander. Sigma's militant attitude had rubbed off on the Umbreon, but they were still close as Trainer and Pokemon. The proof of that lay in Umbreon's form.

"You're…going in by yourself commander?" One of the scouts asked.

"I don't want any more of my people being sacrificed!" said Sigma sharply as he walked toward the building.

n/n/n/n/

The first thing Sigma noticed once he was inside was the red Maverick itself. It had a spiked helmet and long blond hair. Its back was facing him. When he stopped, it heard him and looked over its shoulder with a murderous glint in its eye, right at Sigma. Sigma barely had time to think as the Maverick charged him with a punch ready. He dodged the punch with ease and dodged again when the Maverick delivered a kick, causing it to strike a nearby gas tank instead.

Sigma smiled as the tank exploded. That had been too easy. His smile quickly turned into a look a surprise as he saw the red Maverick emerged from the smoke, almost completely unharmed. He smiled again. Maybe this Maverick would provide a challenge for him for once.

They both charged at each other. Sigma quickly and easily dodged a flurry of punches from the Maverick before delivering a round house kick. The Maverick attempted to block it, only to be blown back, crashing into some nearby barrels. No sooner had Sigma began to approach it that the Maverick charged him again, delivering another flurry of punches, all of which he dodged. Sigma finally grabbed it, threw it over and then tossed it towards the ceiling, where its head crashed through and became stuck.

Sigma smiled, confident that the battle had been won. Then he gasped. The Maverick unstruck itself, an insane smile on its lips. It grabbed a pipe and jumped down. Sigma jumped up to meet it. He knocked away the pipe as the Maverick attempted to swing it at him then swung a punch at the same time as the Maverick. They connected in mid air, and hung their for a moment, each trying to overcome the other without faltering. They finally broke apart and the Maverick charged again. Sigma doged another flurry of punches and then leapt to the rafters. The Maverick quickly followed suit, landing across from him.

Sigma activated his saber. The Maverick grabbed a pipe from nearby. They both launched at each other, their weapons meeting in midair, sparks flying. They quickly broke apart and then charged each other again, parrying each others blows, at some point falling back down to the floor below.

There was a loud noise as Sigma finally managed to cut through the pipe the Maverick had been weilding. He then charged at the Maverick again ready to deal the final blow. The Maverick saw an opening and then...

Sigma's arm went flying, and with it, his saber. It clattered on the floor nearby. Sigma cluctched at where his arm once was, the place sparking from the numerous disconnected wires. The Maverick smiled, as insane as ever. Sigma, for the first time in his life, felt terror go through him as the Maverick approached.

A few moments later, Sigma was tossed to the ground by the Maverick, badly damaged, his situation looking more and more hopeless. He heard the Maverick approach from behind. It grabbed his head. putting him in a headlock. The Maverick looked down at him, clearly savoring every moment of Sigma's suffering. And then it reared back its head and laughed.

It was suddenly cut off. A W flashed on the crystal on its helmet. Sigma manged to lift himself up and look back in time to the Maverick scream in pain, clutching at its helmet. He took full advantage of the moment. He charged at the Maverick and punched the crystal, shattering it. The Maverick was blown back, unconsious, on the ground.

n/n/n/n/

As Sigma emerged out of the building, the scouts and a very worried Umbreon noticed him.

"Look! It's Commander Sigma!" One of the soldiers shouted.

"Incredible! Now I'm certain there's no one that's a match for the Commander…What!" They all suddenly saw just how badly hurt Sigma was. And one of them was quick to react.

"_Umbre!"_ Umbreon ran over to Sigma, its eyes full of concern. For a good reason too. It had never, EVER, seen its Trainer injured like this! It hoped he would be okay.

Sigma gave an acknowledging and reassuring nod at the worried Dark-type Pokemon. He then turned to the scouts as he walked past them, "Take that Maverick to the repair center and call Dr. Cain…I wish to have that Maverick studied!"

There was something different about Sigma. The scouts could both sense it. "Commander! Are you OK?" One of then asked as Sigma walked by.

"Silence!" Sigma commanded as he limped past them with a worried Umbreon close behind.

n/n/n/n/

Chatot was flying around the base. He was looking for something at Tiana's request. "Where are you? C'mon, I know you aren't fully recovered so come on out!"

"Who you looking for?" One hunter who noticed asked, curious.

Chatot perched nearby and sighed, "The Plusle Tiana was treating somehow escaped. She asked me to track it down."

n/n/n/n/

He awoke, feeling confused and disoriented. He couldn't remember anything. What had happened? Where was he? He could only remember his name...

_Zero..._

He opened his eyes. Only to find himself face to face with a Pokemon.

"What the heck!?" He jumped, startled. Then blinked. The Pokemon was a Plusle from what he could tell. It was next to the repair bed he was apparently on. It was regarding him curiously, cocking its head and blinking.

He sat up and looked at it. What did it want from him, exactly? It jumped on its lap, continuing to look at him with those curious eyes. "What do you want?" He asked. The electric-Pokemon actually shrugged,

_"Plusle."_

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Tiana had just entered the repair center. She stopped short when she noticed Zero was awake. She gulped. This was the red Maverick that had wiped out Garma's unit.

The Plusle looked up at her, _"Plusle?"_

"Oh you found it! Great!" Chatot came flying in and landed on Tiana's shoulder. He then looked at Zero, "Well, look who's finally awake! You certainly did a good job on Sigma! His Umbreon is worried sick about him."

"Chatot! There's no need to be rude!" Tiana scolded.

"Um, where am I exactly?" Zero asked.

"You're in the Maverick Hunter base repair center. Though I honestly don't know what Sigma was thinking when he wanted you to be brought here."

"Who is this Sigma character you keep mentioning anyhow?"

Tiana blinked, "You mean you don't know?"

"I don't remember anything. All I can remember is my name. So who is this Sigma?"

"Sigma is the Commander of the Maverick Hunters." Tiana explained.

"And who exactly are the Maverick Hunters?"

"Um..." He really couldn't remember anything! Tiana decided he wasn't dangerous, so a little common courtesy was in order. "Why don't I introduce myself? My name is Tiana, I'm the Pokemon nurse here. And this guy here is my Pokemon, Chatot."

"Nice to meet you," said Chatot.

"My name is Zero. I'm not sure what's going on but-" He was inturrupted by a chirp,

_"Plusle! Plusle!"_ The Plusle looked up at Zero eagerly. Although it didn't grasp just who Sigma was, it did know that Sigma was strong. And if this reploid was powerful enough to defeat someone strong, then maybe he could help it become stronger. Losing to that Mightyena in the Garden had been embarissing for it and it didn't want something like that to happen again.

"Plusle is introducing itself," Chatot explained.

"And I think it likes you," Tiana guessed.

_"Plusle!"_ Plusle said in agreement. It then looked at Zero straight in the eye.

Perhaps together, a powerful reploid and one of the strongest Pokemon in the Garden (At least in its opinion), they could both become stronger.

--

Guess how Sigma got an Umbreon?

This chapter is important in not only introducing Zero but also at last shifting the focus of the story from Keisha and Daekar to X and the rest of the Hunters. But I assure you, none of you have seen the last of my two Trainer OCs yet!

At this point, I would like to explain something, namely, why I decided to have X have a Minun and Zero have a Plusle. At first, I wanted X to have a water Pokemon (A Squirtle/Wartortle more specifically) and Zero to have a Pokemon that would later evolve into something powerful (say, Charmander). But then, while I was looking through one of those Pokedex books, it hit me. Minun and Plusle were blue and red respectively, just like X and Zero. Wierd realization but as I thought about it, I realized that if I had those two be the main character's Pokemon, there could be so much symbology behind it. I won't get into that symbology right now, but those reading this more familiar with the pair of Pokemon might understand some of it.

A sincere thanks to all my reviewers!

R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Bet many of you thought I gave up on this huh? Never! Sorry for not updating (I seem to apologize a lot. Probably why my friends call me over apologetic) I've been having a lot of stuff going on, but to make up for it I plan on putting up a few special one-shots especially for fans of this story!

Just a quick note, there's a time jump between each of the first there sections. One of the toughest things about this story is sifting through all the pre-MMX information and wondering what to include.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs.

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_Keisha's Diary_

_Daekar has, at long last, earned his eighth badge. But it's strange. He seems almost…depressed. But why? He should be excited! He's now eligible to participate in the regional tournament! Could it be…that he feels the same way that I have been feeling lately? That the urge that pulls us to travel on our Pokémon journeys is trying to draw him somewhere else?_

Daekar sighed in a depressed manner. He was sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking over Precip City, a city located deep within the mountains. It was strange. He had finally earned his eighth badge and yet…There was something missing…A nagging feeling that he should be somewhere…

"Hey Daekar!" Daekar peered over his shoulder to see Ronar, the Precip City Gym Leader. He had messy brown hair and equally messy brown clothes. But he was still a powerful Trainer of Rock-type Pokémon and was a lot wiser then he looked. "I just got a call from the Pokemon League. They had to postpone the tournament due to Maverick outbreaks."

Daekar sighed. Great. Now what was he supposed to do?

Ronar furrowed his brow in thought as he sat down next to Daekar. Something was up with this kid. That much he could tell. He was a skilled Trainer and more then deserved the chance to compete in the tournament. But why didn't he seem more excited. He'd seen a lot of Trainers after they had earned their eighth badge. Excited, happy, reflective, but never depressed like Daekar apparently was, "What's up? Bummed that the tournament was pushed back?"

Daekar shook his head, "No, it's not that. I'm not even sure what it is." He sighed, "You ever have the feeling that you should be somewhere, but you couldn't quite place where that somewhere is?"

Ronar chuckled, "Sometimes, when on our journeys, fate pulls us off that path. Is there something that happened on your way here that may be like that?"

Daekar looked toward the horizon, where the sun is setting, "Kinda. On my way to earn my seventh badge, me and Keisha witnessed something incredible. I'll never forget it. It was an event so huge, so…earth-shaking, that even now, the world is feeling the after-effects."

Ronar whistled, "Wow, that's heavy. So are you thinking about that event?" Daekar nodded. "Well then maybe where you feel you need to be has something to do with that event."

"But what about-"

Ronar cut him off, "I know you're thinking that you should be preparing for the tournament, but at this point in time no one has no idea when it'll start," he looked out to the horizon, "Fate's a strange thing. We think one path is right, but then it pulls us on to another path. We may be Pokémon Trainers now, but what will we be a few years from now? Where will we be? Nothing lasts forever, every Gym Leader has to relinquish their position someday, and every champion is eventually defeated. The question is, when all is said and done, will we have made some change, no matter how small, in the world? I've made change by battling the Trainers that challenge my Gym, testing them and helping them improve in the process. With every badge I've awarded, there's always the thought that this Trainer may be the next League champion."

Daekar let Ronar's words sink in. Yes, now he understood. He knew where he had to be, and possibly where Keisha had to be too. Standing up, he nodded to Ronar, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

n/n/n/n/

"Hey watch it!" The Hunter looked down at the Pokémon that had apparently crashed into him. He was irritated for a few moments, until he saw just which Pokemon it was, "Oh, Zigzagoon. Why aren't you with Dr. Cain?"

Zigzagoon shook its head, trying to regroup from its collision. It then looked up, _"Zigzagoon,_" it said.

"_Minun?"_ Minun ran up behind Zigzagoon. They had been playing together, although they now both suspected that maybe it would have been a better idea to do it out in the Garden. _"Minun, Minun?"_ It asked Zigzagoon, checking to make sure that the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon was okay.

Zigzagoon smiled at it, _"Zigzagoon!"_ It said happily it reassurance.

Minun let out a breath of relief. _"Minun Minun,"_ it said, gesturing in the direction of the Garden. Zigzagoon nodded in agreement.

As the two Pokémon made their way through the base towards the Garden, Minun suddenly stopped to look down a hallway. Zigzagoon looked questioningly at it, and then saw what Minun was looking at.

At the other end of the hallway, there was an unfamiliar Hunter. But it was not the Hunter himself that caught Minun's attention. It was the Pokemon that was on his shoulder that made it stop.

He had a _Plusle_.

Zero was talking with Sigma. "I appreciate the praise Commander. But are you sure? I don't exactly have the best standing with the rest of the Hunters if you know what I mean."

"If any of the rest of the Hunters have a problem with it, they can take it up with me," said Sigma, "You have more than proven your worth as a Hunter by now."

"Well, thanks Commander."

"There is no need for thanks."

After Sigma left, Zero heard a sound,

"_Minun! Minun!"_ Minun ran up with Zigzagoon close behind.

"_Plusle?"_ Plusle jumped down from its spot on Zero's shoulder and the two Pokémon regarded each other curiously while Zigzagoon looked on.

Zero blinked at Minun, "Where did you come from?"

Minun payed little attention to him, focused instead on the Plusle before it. They stared at each other for a few moments, before Plusle held out a paw, letting some electricity run through it, _"Plusle."_

Minun smiled and did the same thing, _"Minun!"_ When their paws touched, it let out an impressive shower of sparks.

As the two Pokemon began chatting eagerly, a voice was heard coming up the hallway, "Minun! There you are! I was looking all over for you!"

_"Minun?"_ Minun turned to regard X, who was coming up the hallway.

"I know you! You're that pacifist B-class hunter!" Zero exclaimed, "This Minun belong to you?"

"Yeah it does," said X, as he stopped and kneeled down to talk to the electric type Pokemon, "I've been looking for you. We're needed in the command room."

Minun nodded in understanding, _"Minun."_

_"Plusle?"_ Plusle seemed slightly confused.

_"Minun, Minun Minun,"_ Minun said, either explaining things to Plusle or introducing it to its Trainer. Plusle then nodded in understanding. Minun then leapt up on X's shoulder as he stood up, while Plusle scrambled up Zero to take its usual perch.

"Seems our Pokemon like each other well enough," X noted.

Zero simply shrugged, "I guess. Plusle is with me most of the time, so I don't think its had much of a chance to make friends."

X blinked, "Really? Don't you ever take to out to the Garden?"

"The Garden? Why would I take it out there?"

"Well, that's what it's for. You have to let your Pokemon unwind every now and then." Minun nudged X, reminding him that they needed to get going. "I have to go now. By the way, my name is X."

"I know. Mine's Zero." After their two mouse-like Pokemon had chirped their farewells, X turned and left.

Zero looked at his electric companion, "Something tells me we haven't seen the last of those two," he remarked.

"_Plusle,"_ Plusle replied in agreement. Zero then turned and went down one of the hallways.

The only one left in the hall was Zigzagoon. It stood, confused for a moment. What should it do now? In the end, it decided to just go to the Garden. As it went in the direction, it though to itself how Minun had made a new friend. And it had a feeling, no an instinct, that it was both the start and an omen of something wonderful and terrible.

n/n/n/n/

Sigma was doing his usual rounds around HQ when he noticed them. Two Trainers, a boy and a girl. A Jolteon with a red ribbon on its head was with them. They both looked slightly lost. He overheard their conversation,

"That was a smooth move, getting us lost AGAIN!" The girl Trainer said, clearly irritated.

"Well, we found the place, didn't we? Now we just need to find-"

"Excuse me, but do you two have business here?" Sigma finally asked, walking up to the two Trainers.

They both jumped and turned towards Sigma. "Ah! You're the Commander of the Maverick Hunters!" The boy said, startled.

"Indeed. My name is Sigma,"

"_Umbre!"_ Umbreon popped out from behind him.

"And this is my Pokemon and companion, Umbreon."

The boy took out his Pokedex,

_Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokemon_

_The light of the moon changed Eevee's genetic structure. It lurks in darkness for prey._

"My name is Keisha and this is my Jolteon, Tealsy," said the girl, gesturing to the Jolteon next to her.

The boy put away his Pokedex and said, "My name is Daekar. I just earned my eighth badge and now me and Keisha came here to see someone."

As Sigma, Keisha, and Daekar began to talk, Tealsy looked at the Umbreon strangely. Umbreon gulped slightly. Suddenly, it didn't like how that Jolteon was looking at it…

Tealsy jumped forward to greet Umbreon. _"Jolte,_" It said, shyly, looking down as if embarrassed. When it looked up, it was blushing. Umbreon suddenly felt really awkward as the Jolteon came closer to it. It didn't like this at all…

"So I see, you're friends with X," said Sigma as Keisha and Daekar finished explaining.

"That's right. Since we don't know when the Pokemon league tournament is going to start, we decided we might as well visit," said Daekar.

Sigma looked thoughtful for a moment, an idea forming in his head, then said, "You must be an exceptional Trainer to be able to compete in the League tournament."

Daekar blushed slightly, "It's not THAT great of an accomplishment. I'll call myself exceptional when I get past the preliminaries in the League tournament."

"Strange, you never struck me as modest," Keisha teased.

"Quiet," Daekar told her. Turning back to Sigma he asked, "So, can we see X? Or is he busy right now?"

Sigma smiled slightly, "Of course, he's out on a mission right now. You can see him when he returns. But in the meantime, I just had a very good idea."

n/n/n/n/

"Any idea why Sigma called us here?" Zero asked. He was in the Pokemon arena of MHHQ with his Plusle sitting on his shoulder. The Hunters usually conducted battles either here or out in the Garden. Zero wasn't alone either. Eight other Hunters, all of them in the same class as him, had also been called to the arena.

One of them, Flame Mammoth, snorted, "Hell if we know. The Commander wouldn't tell us anything." The other Hunters in the room were Chill Penguin, Storm Eagle (with his Pidgeotto perched on his shoulder), Spark Mandrill, Sting Chameleon, Armored Armadillo, Launch Octopus and Boomer Kuwanger. All of them seemed slightly anxious.

"_Plusle! Plusle!"_ Plusle nudged Zero and directed his attention towards the entrance to the arena.

"Someone coming?" Zero asked.

"You guys were all called here too?" X asked as he stepped in the arena. Minun was with him as usual. Plusle immediately jumped down and Minun did the same, the two happily greeting each other.

The other Hunters were less than thrilled, "What the hell is this B-class Hunter doing here!?" Kuwanger hissed.

"We specifically requested X to come," came a voice from the other side of the room. The Hunters turned to see a figure at the other end of the arena, hidden in the shadows. "We wanted him here, because out of all of you, he has the most experience with Pokemon battles."

"Who the hell is this!?"

"Not sure Launch," said Kwanger. "Just because X may have more experience, doesn't mean that he's better than any of us! We're all a higher rank then him!"

"I beg to differ," said the figure, "Rank within the Hunters matters little in something such as a Pokemon battle. But if you really want to prove a point, why don't you just see if you can defeat X in a battle yourself?"

"Maybe I will!" Kwanger turned to X, "What do you say to that? Will you take my challenge?"

X sighed as Minun leapt from his shoulder, "I've been told that's its rude to refuse a challenge. But to be completely honest, I don't like where this is going."

"Think what you like!" Kwanger dashed to the other side of the arena. He attempted to get a glimpse of the person in the shadows, but had no luck. He then refocused his attention on the impending battle, "Pinser, go!" He tossed out a Pokeball, which opened up and in a flash of white light, revealed a Pokemon that looked a vicious stag beetle. Kwanger smiled evilly, "I'll let you have the first move."

_Kwanger sure seems confident._ Zero noted.

"Alright, Minun, use Spark!" Minun became charged with electricity. It launched forward toward Pinsir.

"Dodge and use Brick Break!" Pinser turned to one side and as Minun flew by, and then slammed the Cheering Pokemon with one of its claws. Minun skidded to one side of the arena.

"Minun, use Quick Attack!" Minun charged forward with incredible speed.

"Avoid it and wait." Pinsir got out of the way. Minun went by, turned on a dime, and launched again at the Bug-type Pokemon. The cycle repeated a few more times. "Wait for it…" said Kwanger calmly, "Wait for it…Now!" On Kwanger's cue, during one of Minun's charges, Pinsir leaned down and clamped its claws. When it stood up, in its pincers was a struggling Minun. "Now use Sesmic Toss!"

X thought fast, "Use Thunderbolt!"

Pinser was just about to follow its Trainers orders when it heard some sparking. It paused for a moment. And that cost it.

"_Minuuun!"_ Minun thoroughly shocked the Stag Beatle Pokemon. Pinser released the electric-type from its pincers. Minun jumped away.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Minun's tail glowed and it jumped forward at Pinser and slammed it, hard, with its tail. Pinser was blown over on its back. Out of commission.

Kwanger seemed surprised, "What!?"

"It was a nice idea, using its pincers to stop the attack, but you forgot to account for Minun's electric abilities." The figure in the shadows spoke as Minun ran to X and jumped into his arms happily.

Kwanger merely snarled and returned Pincer to its Pokeball and turned to the figure, "And who are you to know about things like this?"

"Quite a lot actually." The figure stepped out of the shadows, at long last revealing himself.

And X recognized who it was instantly.

"Daekar!"

"_Minun!"_ Minun leapt out of X's arms and ran towards Daekar, scrambling up him excitedly.

"Good to see you too Minun," Daekar remarked, petting it gently. He took note of how Minun seemed a lot more cheerful and confident, a far cry from the timid, nervous Pokemon he had met in the archeological camp.

"X, you know this guy?" Zero asked.

X nodded, "Yes, he's a friend of mine."

Plusle, meanwhile, leapt off Zero's shoulder and ran to see who Minun was so interested in. "Who's this? A friend of yours?" Daekar asked Minun when he saw Plusle.

Minun simply chirped and leapt down to greet the red Cheering Pokemon.

"Daekar, what are you doing here?" X asked, walking up.

Daekar looked up from observing the two electric Pokemon. He smiled, "We came here to visit you. At least that was the original plan. But you commander, Sigma, had other plans for us. And after that battle, I think I can see what he means. By the way, is this Plusle yours?"

"It belongs to me," Zero came up followed by Storm Eagle. Plusle leapt up onto Zero's shoulder, while Minun took its usual perch on X.

"Are you the reason the commander called us here?" Storm asked.

"Yep!" Another person emerged from behind Daekar, followed closely by a Pokemon.

"Keisha!" X exclaimed. Minun leapt down from X's shoulder, this time to greet Tealsy, who was by Keisha's side.

Keisha gave X an acknowledging nod, "Its been a while," Turning back to Storm, she said, "Sigma is worried about the Hunters' skills when it comes to handling Pokemon apparently. When he heard that Daekar had eight badges, he asked if we could help out."

X looked curiously, "So you finally pulled it off, huh?"

Daekar chuckled and blushed, "Yeah. But because of all the Maverick attacks, we have no idea when the League tournament will start."

"In the meantime," said Keisha, "Sigma offered to let us stay here in exchange for helping the Hunters with their Pokemon."

---------

So Keisha and Daekar are back, but I'm thinking of doing one more chapter before I do the actual novelization. Well, we'll see! By the way, my reasoning behind them teaching the Hunters to become better Pokemon battlers is because of the Hunter's duties, they don't get as much time to focus on training their Pokemon. In order to reduce the risk of encountering a Maverick reploid with an uber powerful Pokemon that the Hunters will be unable to defeat, Sigma basically wants Keisha and Daekar to teach the Hunters how to get better at Pokemon battles.

A sincere thanks to all my reviewers!

R&R!


End file.
